News

Motherwell 0 Aberdeen 0: Smith blunders cost Well

MOTHERWELL are bereft of points, but not attitude. The season is becoming a test of patience and they have now lost their three opening games for the first time in the Premierleague. It is the kind of unwanted distinction that a manager greets as a personal offence, especially one who has only been in place for three games. Yet Maurice Malpas will not allow defeatism to spread indiscriminately round his club.

Having stepped up to replace Terry Butcher in the summer following the Englishman’s departure for Australia, the Motherwell manager is discovering the harsh contours of his new role. His team performed credibly during the second half of their opening-day defeat to Rangers, but he felt compelled to admonish his players when they lost meekly to St Mirren last weekend.

Yesterday, he assumed a different approach.

“I take 90 minutes of positives, because I thought we were the better team,”